FORT MYERS, Fla. - Chris Parmelee seems to have this spring training thing figured out. Rather than sweat out the myriad decisions that could lead to his promotion to the big-league club, he has distilled his focus to a single task: doing his job.

It's worked like a charm.

Parmelee continued to impress the right people on Saturday, March 24, with a two-run home run in Minnesota's 19-4 victory over Tampa Bay at Hammond Stadium. After batting .355 with four homers and 14 runs batted in in his first major league call-up last September, he is batting .316 with two homers and eight RBIs in 14 games this spring.

That's a lot of hitting for a guy who has never played a game at Class AAA.

"Right now I'm just going up there and looking for a good pitch to hit," he said. "Basically that's what it comes down to."

See? Focus.

Parmelee's performance has the brass wondering whether it might be time to make this gig permanent, even to the point of moving Justin Morneau to designated hitter so Parmelee can play first base. The Twins are clearly vacillating over what to do with Morneau, who hit two home runs and knocked in five runs Saturday.

Asked Saturday if Morneau could be the team's primary designated hitter this season, general manager Terry Ryan said: "We're going to have to see and play it out this spring. Right now, Parmelee is having quite a spring. You start to say, 'Jeez, how are we going to get that bat in the lineup?' "

It isn't just Ryan thinking this through, either.

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"Me and Terry talk all the time, so we agree," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's doing really good, OK?"

Parmelee split Saturday's game between right field and first base, something he's done for most of his minor league career, though it has been skewed toward first base the past few seasons.

"It's nothing that taking some live fly balls out of batting practice won't fix," he said.

No one, of course, believes Parmelee will replace Morneau, the 2006 American League most valuable player, who was hitting .345 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs before a serious concussion started a run of injuries that ravaged his past two seasons. The question is whether the Twins can get all their best bats in the lineup and produce more offense than last season, when they ranked among the six worst teams in the majors in runs scored (619, 25th), home runs (103, 28th) and RBIs (572, 27th).

Parmelee never hit better than .287 in six minor league seasons, but there's no escaping the fact he has raked major league pitching.

"You can wipe that slate clean," Ryan said. "He hit everything in September, and it didn't matter if it was left or right."

Promoting Parmelee would make an impact at several positions, well beyond the Morneau implications. It would mean Ryan Doumit wouldn't have to play first, something he hasn't been comfortable with. It would be an issue for Joe Mauer, who is counting on playing first base to give him the occasional break from catching.

It might even mean the Twins won't need a third catcher, as they've essentially been planning for all spring.

The ramifications, one way or another, are for Ryan and Gardenhire to figure out. Parmelee said he's happy to "leave the decisions to those guys, and pretty much all you have to do is go out and play. You play as hard as you can; you give it everything you've got and try to be a good teammate, and whatever happens, happens - whatever's meant to happen."